Prepping Stripped Car for Body Work.

eratik · 06-08-2005, 03:11 PM

Ok so I purchased a '75 914 this last weekend for $1000 and plan to do a full restore on it. The Body is fairly straight and there does not seem to be too much rust anywhere on the car. My initial steps have been gathering tools and beginning to disassemble the car to prepare for the light body work it will need and the following full strip and primer that I plan to do myself.

I am a complete newbie to all this stuff and have been immersed in learning about the process. Anyway I guess I have a couple of questions.

1.) Could anyone recommend some websites regarding body work techniques and tools.

2.) I have pulled most the interior and am planning to power wash the entire car. There is surface rust, oil and dirt on the floor boards inside the car. Can I power wash the interior metal and stuff and can anyone recommend steps and products for prepping the interior. (IE rust remover, degreaser or cleaner.)

Thanks ahead of time!!!

06-08-2005, 05:19 PM

Check out 914club.com specifically in the garage area. There is one recent thread called "turtle girl build", there are several other intensively documented restore jobs on the site.

smooth_eddy · smooth_eddy's Garage

Hi Ryan...

Welcome to the world of 914's. All the info you need is right here at Pelican and also be sure to check out the 914club.com B/t the two sites you will find a world of info at your finger tips.

Also, post a photo of your car so we can check it out. Eddy

eratik · 06-08-2005, 07:20 PM

Here it is... Thanks for the replies!

Gotta run out to dinner but will be back around later.

Will98D · 07:30 PM

try www.autobodystore.com

they have a great BBS with a lot of helpful people.

smooth_eddy · smooth_eddy's Garage

Ryan....

I see you have the model with AC. Missing windshield, lol. Good luck with the project. Eddy

eratik · 06-09-2005, 12:39 AM

Yea it is definitely going to be an undertaking but I wanted to start from scratch and learn along the way. I have really specific ideas about what I want and have a fairly blank slate at this point. In looking over the car however it is becoming obvious I will need to rebuild or purchase new parts for almost everything.
I am starting to get my tools together and beginning the body work and am already fully addicted so this should be a lot of fun.

-Ryan

ptravnic · 06-11-2005, 06:23 AM

For rust proofing I've heard guys rant and rave about a product called Por 15 and how well it works post power washing, cleaning, etc. There's numerous threads if you do a search for it.

Welcome to the club/assylum...

-pt

eratik · 05:39 PM

Week number one of Porsche ownership finds my (personal outside of bills) bank account in the negative for the first time in years. On the positive side I have my compressor up and running again, a new set of body hammers and dollys, a 914 Haynes, a new metric socket set, open face wrenches and hex drivers. I plan to power wash the car tomorrow so I can begin doing body work but am still unsure of the process for the interior.

This leads me to a couple more questions... Since I am so new to all of this I am trying to gather as much information as possible so I can hopefully avoid making fundamental mistakes.

First question: Is it ok to powerwash the stripped interior of the car if I use a wet/dry vac to suck out the water?

Second: There is a lot of debris / oil dirt and some rust on the floorboards. If I powerwash the interior out should I use degreaser along with the powerwash?

Third: I plan to strip the entire car to metal but first I have some small body work to address. The question is should I try and address the initial body work that needs to be done BEFORE stripping the car then strip the car around the newly repaired dings?

BTW, thanks for welcoming me to the site as well as all the advice.

Oh yea... Is anyone going to be up at Willow Springs this weekend for the Porsche Club event?

914GT · 06-11-2005, 07:21 PM

Quote:

First question: Is it ok to powerwash the stripped interior of the car if I use a wet/dry vac to suck out the water?

Second: There is a lot of debris / oil dirt and some rust on the floorboards. If I powerwash the interior out should I use degreaser along with the powerwash?

Third: I plan to strip the entire car to metal but first I have some small body work to address. The question is should I try and address the initial body work that needs to be done BEFORE stripping the car then strip the car around the newly repaired dings?

1. It's OK to powerwash but use a vacuum to suction the water out of the tunnel or use a leaf blower to completely dry out that area. You might have to tilt the car to the side or front to back to help get the water to drain out.

2. Use a stong detergent and hot water if possible, get as much oil off as possible. You can wipe down with a degreaser prep solvent prior to primer/paint. Get all loose crap off including the old factory sound-deadening material. If the old stuff is stuck tight to clean metal you can leave it.

3. I would strip the car first and inspect all the old bodywork and dent repairs done in the past, then dolly out dents and use new filler as required. Use new filler on bare metal than epoxy prime the whole thing before going to your 2k primer/surfacer and block sanding. Sand the bare metal areas with 80 grit prior to filling.

smooth_eddy · smooth_eddy's Garage

Hi Ryan...

Post some picutures of the Longitudinal area (under rocker panels), under battery area and interior with seats and carpet romoved. That will show what is needed to do with your rust repair. Those are the areas you will probably want to address first as they are notorious problem areas. The members from this board will be able to tell you what needs to be repaired structurally and what is okay. Eddy

eratik · 06-12-2005, 07:26 PM

Ok so today while prepping to power wash the car I peeled back the factory sound proofing to discover the back half of both driver and passenger side floor boards are rusted really bad... I actually have holes in some places on the passenger side. The front halfs of both sides are not fairing much better close to the very front of the car.
It seems to me that the frame looks pretty rust free. I guess my next step is to take some pictures and get some advice from you guys. I have a good friend that is a welding inspector and has all the gear to help me weld in a new floor pan. Anyone have any advice on where I could purchase one?

Thanks,

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

You could try the hosts of this BBS. I hear they sometimes sell a few Porsche parts....

I don't know how well our dealings with our pody panel supplier (Restoration Designs) are going any more. We have had problems getting product from them in any kind of timely fashion recently and may be dropping them as a supplier. But it's worth checking the catalog and/or phoning up and asking about the parts!

--DD